


I'll Carry You Home Tonight

by universal_reno



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker is a Little Shit, Anakin/Padme/Rex is my endgame, BAMF Rex, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, He can be both okay, Headaches & Migraines, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor whump, Multiple battle droids were harmed in the making of this fic, Pre-Slash, Protective Anakin Skywalker, Sharing a Bed, Soft Rex, Unnamed dead clones, battles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:01:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23125171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universal_reno/pseuds/universal_reno
Summary: Anakin helps Rex during a particularly difficult battle, and after it as well
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, CT-7567 | Rex/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 9
Kudos: 312





	I'll Carry You Home Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to get more practice writing fight scenes turned into 50-50 fighting and fluff. Meh, I'll get there eventually. Meanwhile enjoy me shipping Rex with basically everyone. Set early-ish in the war when he and Anakin were already friends but before they ~~banged~~ really started to get to know each other better.

The clone troopers of the GAR were trained to be stoic in the face of adversity. Always press on, they'd been taught. Never complain, least of all in front of the Generals.

Rex took that training to heart. It was necessary. War wasn't fun but it was their job and there was no sense bitching about it. Some days, though, it was hard to live up to that ideal.

The battle wasn't even particularly bad by the standards of the 501st. Only a few detachments of droids left behind to hold a small Republic mining colony that had been captured by the Separatists a few weeks earlier. General Skywalker said he fully expected to be back on the Resolute within a cycle and Rex was inclined to agree.

He started feeling off in the transport on the way down but ignored it. The final moments before a battle were no time to show weakness in front of his General or his brothers. He charged out into the thick of it with everyone else, prepared to rain hell on the damn clankers as always.

It _hurt_ though. Rex didn't know why, but soon as he stepped off the transport the desert sun stabbed at his eyes with the burning intensity of a plasma bolt. He dialed the opacity of his visor up to maximum and that helped a little. At least enough to keep him on his feet and shooting. If he wasn't quite as accurate as usual no one seemed to notice. The droids fell regardless.

The noise was agony as well. The whine of his own blasters set his teeth on edge to say nothing of the heavy artillery going off around him. A few times a shell came a bit too close or Skywalker barked his orders over the com a bit too sharply and it left him staggering.

His head had never hurt so much in his life. Like most of his brothers he'd woken up with headaches after certain particularly intense flash training sessions, but it was nowhere near this bad.

Two rounds in rapid succession put down one of the few remaining commando droids. Rex stumbled, holstering his pistols so he could catch himself before he hit the ground. He only had to hold out a little longer. They were mopping up now, but his brothers still needed his help. A squad of droids was holed up in a bombed out warehouse over the next ridge and the sooner he got there to help Jesse scrap them the sooner he could go back to the Resolute and curl up in his bunk for a few hours.

"Rex, do you copy? Could really use a hand over here." The incessant com chatter was making him dizzy.

A plasma bolt bit into the dirt a few inches from his foot. He looked up to find a lone battle droid advancing on him. It was an almost pathetic little thing now that it was on its own. Barely even a challenge. Or at least it shouldn't have been a challenge. The next shot singed the armor covering his thigh. He brought his pistol up. The droid fell. Rex whimpered when he collapsed, his trembling muscles no longer able to support him.

"Rex! Vod'ika, can you hear me? Kriff, someone get over there!" Jesse sounded half frantic.

"I’m fine, ori'vod" He wanted to reassure his brother, but he was pretty sure the way he was slurring his words would only worry him even more. It just hurt so karking bad!

He managed to drag himself behind a small outcrop. The worst of the battle may have been over, but he was as good as dead if he stayed out in the open. Safe for the moment he curled in on himself, draping his arms over his helmet to try to block out the light. His com continued to blare at him but he could no longer distinguish words within the harsh noise.

He wasn't the first one to try hiding here, he realized after a moment. His leg brushed something solid and he cracked one eye open to find familiar white armor. The shiny was obviously dead. There was a bloody hole the size of a fist burned into his chest. Carrion flies were already starting to gather.

Rex forced himself up anyway. He crawled over and pulled off the man's helmet. Unseeing eyes stared up at him as he searched for a pulse he knew he'd never find.

A pained sob escaped Rex and he froze. Sounds like that weren't supposed to come from him. He wasn't even injured, though the pain was at least as bad as any blaster wound he’d ever received. He turned away from the dead man and laid down again. Maybe he was dying too. It felt like it. He didn't want to die! His brothers still needed him, to say nothing of the General.

"Rex!" The new voice wasn't coming over the com. It was less grating, though it still sent a wave of pain crashing through his skull. He forced his eyes open again.

"General?"

"I've got you. Can you show me where you're hit?" Skywalker wasn't even trying to hide his worry.

"'m not hit...Just..."

The General's hands came to rest on the sides of his helmet. Before Rex could protest it was pulled away.

The light doubled in intensity. Rex's vision whited out.

"...need a medic at my position now!"

The next thing he knew Skywalker was yelling into the com. Because of course he had to yell.

"Rex, stay with me. We're going to get you through this."

He was being a little quieter now at least. Rex found himself pulled up so his head was resting in the General's lap. Strong hands ran over his armor looking for any injuries. He drew a shaking hand up over his eyes.

"It's too bright." Good soldiers weren't supposed to complain, but he couldn't take it anymore.

The world shifted around him. A bit more darkness crept in as Skywalker moved him so he could hide his face against his shoulder.

"Your head?" The Jedi asked, voice barely audible over the sounds of the battle around them. Rex nodded but immediately regretted it and couldn't help a pained little whine.

"I understand. I know it hurts but you’re going to be alright." Gentle fingers began to massage the back of Rex's neck and he let out a shaky sigh.

"We need to stand up, okay?" Skywalker said after awhile. "I'll stay right beside you, but we need to get back to the transport."

"Yes sir." Rex didn't want to get up. He wasn't even sure he could. He had to try, though.

In the end the General took most of his weight. Rex swallowed down nausea and forced himself to move forward. Footsteps came up behind them and he fumbled for his weapon.

"How bad is he?" Kix's voice. Too loud and thick with worry, but it was his vod so it was okay.

"Migraine" Skywalker offered by way of explanation, much more quietly.

"In the middle of a battle? Poor bugger." Kix thankfully toned it down as well. A moment later he came up to support Rex's other side.

It felt like hours getting back to the transport. The whole time Rex was hyper aware of their vulnerability but too dazed with pain to do anything about it.

The relative darkness of the transport was a blessing when they finally reached it, the cool metal of the deck even more so. A wet rag was draped over his eyes. Skywalker continued to hold him. Rex should have been mortified but he didn't have the strength. 

He slept.

He woke to the quiet rumble of the Resolute’s engines. His armor was gone. He cracked his eyes open to find himself in a dim room lying on an unfamiliar bunk.

“Welcome back, Captain. How you feeling?” Skywalker was sitting beside the bed with a stack of data pads in his lap.

“Better, sir. Thank you.” His body still felt heavy with exhaustion, but the pain was gone, thank the void. “Where am I?”

The General looked almost sheepish. “My quarters. Figured you’d be more comfortable here than in the med bay or the barracks. I hope you don’t mind.”

The General’s private quarters? Rex looked around a bit more closely. It was a small room, just big enough for the bed and a desk. The place was in complete disarray, with data pads and clothes scattered over almost every flat surface. A small shelf at the foot of the bed was covered with credit chits and half empty fizzy drink bottles. The thick blanket covering him was way too soft and warm to be regulation. It was…homey, almost. Normal, or at least what Rex had always imagined normal would look like outside of the military.

“Of course not. Thank you.” He gave Skywalker a sleepy smile and rubbed his eyes. It was nice to be looked after without even having to ask for it. Though he definitely should _not_ have been thinking that he could get used to waking up in his Jedi’s bed. 

“What happened?” He was almost afraid to ask. Clones that suddenly fell ill didn’t tend to be kept around for long. 

“You had a migraine by the looks of it. The meds Kix gave you should have fixed you up for now. Has it ever happened before?”

“No.” And he dearly hoped it never happened again. “Kix know what caused it?”

“I’m afraid not.” Skywalker moved over to sit on the edge of the bed with his legs curled under him. He was barefoot and down to a single tunic and a pair of workout pants. It was the closest to undressed Rex had ever seen him. 

His hand was warm when he began to gently pet Rex’s hair. He really shouldn’t let him do that --he wasn’t even sick anymore. And he sure as hell shouldn’t let himself stare at the triangle of pale skin exposed by the low neck of his General’s tunic. 

“Obi-Wan gets them sometimes. Stress I think. Not looking after himself” he explained after awhile. When Rex glanced up at him he noticed his eyelids were beginning to droop, like a tired child lulled to sleep by stroking a tooka. It was, dare he even think it, adorable. 

Rex couldn’t help but nudge at the arm not petting him. He was surprised when Skywalker seemed to get the hint and laid down next to him. 

“Budge over. You’re hogging the blanket.” He gave Rex a playful little shove. 

“I can go if you want.” Though he really hoped he didn’t want him to.

“No, you’re warm. These ships are always too cold.” He grabbed a corner of the blanket and tugged until he was mostly covered and Rex was mostly not. 

It was only then that it fully dawned on Rex that he was wearing nothing but a pair of sweats almost identical to the ones the General had on. He certainly didn’t own anything like that, which meant that a) Skywalker had seen fit to share his clothes with him and b) Skywalker had seen him naked in the process of getting him out of his blacks. 

Rex felt his cheeks heat up and pulled the blanket back towards himself to hide his blush. Skywalker made a quiet sound of annoyance. 

“Pushy” he chided, with what could only be described as a pout. “Come here.” He grabbed Rex’s shoulder and arranged them both until Rex was halfway on top of him, then wrapped his arms around his waist to keep him there. “Better. Now, sleep.”

Rex hardly dared to breathe let alone sleep. The General’s shirt had gotten bunched up and Rex’s chest and stomach were pressed against his bare skin. He and his brothers had huddled together like this in various stages of undress for as long as he could remember, but with Skywalker it made his head spin. 

“Hey, relax. You can leave if you want.” Skywalker was looking at him with those ridiculously pretty eyes and a little smirk that made it clear he knew Rex wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon. 

Rex swallowed around the sudden dryness in his throat and willed himself to relax. “I’m fine, sir. Ship’s too karking cold anyway, like you said.” 

“Rex, don’t call me sir when I’m spooning you. It’s creepy.” 

Rex’s mouth worked around thin air. He tried to force some intelligible sounds to come out, but no such luck. The General was spooning him. The General was spooning him and he was completely aware he was doing it. He’d probably been planning it ever since Rex had woken up, the cheeky bastard. “General?” he finally managed to choke out.

Skywalker’s eyebrows rose. The smirk intensified. “Anakin. Say it back.” 

Rex was torn between the desire to bolt from the room and hide in an escape pod drifting in the void for the rest of his life, and the desire to never let the General stop looking at him like that ever again. 

“A...Anakin?” The name felt strange on his tongue, as though he was using it for the first time. Which, come to think of it, may have been the case. Even amongst themselves the clones referred to him by rank. 

“I knew you could do it!” Anakin teased. He rested his chin on the top of Rex’s head. “Now, sleep. And no more headaches. You looked like death out there today...I…It frightened me.” The last part was admitted so quietly Rex thought he might have imagined it, but the way Anakin’s arms tightened around him suggested he hadn’t. 

“I’ll do my best, s...Anakin.” Rex dared to slip his hand up under Anakin’s shirt and tracked the steady rise and fall of his chest until his own breathing slowed to match. He didn’t know what all this meant, but there was no point overthinking it. Whatever happened happened. He just had to trust that his Jedi would be there for him like always.


End file.
